I thought this idiom is American in origin (based on simplicity) but, upon research, I see it came into use long before the advent of US of A. The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, for instance, quotes a 1546 work by John Heywood asking:
“Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?”
Anyways, you understand that “can’t eat your cake and have it too” is descriptive of any situation where a choice between two opposing decisions has to be make. It’s a question of either, or (either this or than), not both (this and that).
Here are media examples:
1. Leading accountant and shipping industry adviser Moore Stephens says the shipping sector faces a challenging year in 2011, with freight rates under pressure, crew costs continuing to rise and the banks closely monitoring the future viability of poor performers.
Writing in the latest issue of Bottom Line, the firm’s shipping newsletter, Julian Wilkinson, head of the Moore Stephens Shipping Industry Group, says, “Last year should have been the year that future generations would use to frighten their children into believing that, unless they ate their greens, they would suffer the privations that were visited upon shipping. The truth was somewhat different.
“The shipping markets continued to be challenging in 2010 because, despite positive signs on the demand side, surplus tonnage, a lack of funding, a continuing glut of new buildings and fierce competition led to downward pressure on freight rates. But confidence levels in the first half of the year still reached eighteen-month highs, not bad for an industry that was supposed to be ailing. Owners started to think about new investments, and about finance costs coming down. Confidence suffered a minor wobble towards the end of the year, but 2010 still closed on talk of IPOs, strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and major investments.
【Eat the cake and still have it?】相关文章:
★ 英语学习七大策略
最新
2020-09-15
2020-08-28
2020-08-21
2020-08-19
2020-08-14
2020-08-12